Christine Fadden

Skawennati

• Christine Fadden was born on July 4, 1912.  She is a Mohawk from Akwesasne (Land of the Drumming Partridge), which is also known as the St. Regis Mohawk Indian reservation.  Akwesasne borders the St. Lawrence River and is located in New York State, and Canada.  Christine is of the Turtle Clan.

• Christine's Mother and father were Louise Back Chubb and Mitchell Chubb .  Christine has very fond memories of her parents whom she admired.  

Christine admired her mother for her hard work and perseverance.  She remembers her mother writing home, to her family and friends asking for black ash splints to make baskets.  They would send her the splints and sweet grass through the mail.

Christine remembers how her mother would be busy making baskets before the winter holidays.  Her mother knew where the rich people lived and where to go to sell the baskets.  So, out she would go with her big bags of baskets in hand in hopes of making some money.  When her mother came home from her trip to sell baskets, she would be very happy and her bags would be empty.  The people loved her mother's baskets.

• In October of 1935, Christine married Ray Tehnanetorens Fadden.  In 1954, Christine and Ray opened up the Six Nations Indian Museum in Onchiota, New York.  A Museum that is dedicated to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people.   Christine has one child, John Kahionhes Fadden who was born in 1938 and three grandsons: Donald, David, and Daniel.  Christine also has two great-grandsons,  Ian and Evan

In the Indian Time Newspaper February 17, 1995 Christine was recognized as Elder of the Week.  She was asked what advice she had for the young people.  She said:

"A young boy or girl should be able to go to their parents.  if these children have good decent parents, the parents will be right on their toes wanting their children to grow up to be a decent person:  kind, gentle, and helpful.  the parents should want their children to be all those good things of what a human being should be to one another.  Lots of kids run away today.  They are out on the road.  Many have terrible things happening to them."

"These young people have a long life and they should be doing something; learning something good.  The young people need to help one another and teach other kids to avoid bad spots.  When a child is troubled, the parents need to be alert.  Parents need to listen to their children, not point with fists.  Neglect is a bad thing.  Our children wander around with no aim in life.  In our way of our ancestors, the parents did not point at the child, they did not believe in pounding their children.  They taught the children through  lessons, moral lessons, they talked to the children."